Joy To The World The Word Of Life Has Come

What is the Word of Life? (v.1)

There are at least three other descriptions of what it is that concerns the Word of Life in the Scriptures:

When Peter was questioned about his loyalty to Christ’s teaching, he made this confession:

John 6:63–69 (NKJV)

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” 66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

So it was the words of Christ. (Jn.6:68)

Again, when the Apostles were cast into prison and bailed out by the angel of the Lord, they were commanded to speak to the people in the temple grounds “all the words of this life.”

Acts 5:17–20 (NKJV)

17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, 18 and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. 19 But at night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”

So it is the life of Christ fulfilled in the church. (Acts 5:20)

And lastly, Paul exhorts the Philippians “to hold onto the Word of Life.”

Philippians 2:14–18 (NKJV)

14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

So it is what we hold onto that we may finish the race of faith by the Lord’s grace. (Phil.2:16)

But here, John is referring to the Word of Life as the physical presence of Christ himself in what the Apostles witnessed. (1Jn.1:1)

How was this “life” from the beginning? (v.1)

According to John’s gospel, it was authored as a covenant inside of the person of Christ Jesus of Nazareth from before the physical world was made.

Hebrews 12:1–2 (NKJV)

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

John 1:1–2 (NKJV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

The Word “from the beginning” has a soul that is not of the creation, which is equal to God.

John 1:2 (NKJV)

2 He was in the beginning with God.

Philippians 2:5–7 (NKJV)

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Therefore this soul that was “with God” in the beginning is God.

John 1:1 (NKJV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Thus far, the witness that we have been given in the Scriptures that we looked at is that God is at least two persons but one God according to this Word of Life.

Now, therefore, how did the Apostles come to know about the eternal Word as eyewitnesses through all these created senses if Christ is not revealed through flesh and blood? (v.1)

John 1:14–18 (NKJV)

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

They saw this Christ with their eyes and handled him with their hands and heard him speak with their ears.

Matthew 16:13–17 (NKJV)

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Therefore what does this testify but that God indeed became a man? But how was this man revealed to be God?

Acts 2:22–24 (NKJV)

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

So he was “attested” by miracles and various signs with mighty works. But consider why he did not do many mighty things before his hometown. Didn’t they have the greatest miracle of them all in his birth of the virgin that was foretold in the greatest detail? (Matt.1:23; Isa.7:14) Yet, they said, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?”

Matthew 13:54–58 (NKJV)

54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” 58 Now, He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Therefore how is verse 2 expanding on this same train of thought? (v.2)

Jesus was clearly portrayed both as a man as well as God through the works he performed, and that is why Peter said that Jesus had the words of eternal life. Therefore this Man is the fulfillment of the promise, and it is he who proclaims eternal life.

John 3:16–18 (NKJV)

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 6:54–56 (NKJV)

54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

John 6:61–63 (NKJV)

61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

John 10:27–30 (NKJV)

27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

John 17:1–5 (NKJV)

1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

But John, along with the other Apostles, are eyewitnesses of these things. Therefore he has a fellowship with God as a physical eyewitness of Christ that the rest of the world did not have.

John 20:24–29 (NKJV)

24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Therefore what is the purpose of this epistle? (v.3)

1 John 2:1–2 (NKJV)

1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Is it not so that the rest of the world may participate in this same fellowship that the Apostles have seen and heard, which has descended to them out of heaven’s glory? Is it not to share what has been revealed through the person and work of Jesus Christ, who has been in the presence of the Father from the beginning?

John 3:11–15 (NKJV)

11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Now, what is the implication of not having this fellowship with the teaching of the Apostles?

Acts 2:40–42 (NKJV)

40 And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

1 John 2:18–19 (NKJV)

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

1 John 2:22–23 (NKJV)

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

1 John 2:28 (NKJV)

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

1 John 3:10–11 (NKJV)

10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,

1 John 4:1–3 (NKJV)

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

1 John 4:6 (NKJV)

6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 4:12–16 (NKJV)

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

1 John 5:5–13 (NKJV)

5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

So the implication is that everything outside of the Apostle’s doctrine is of the spirit of error and heretical to the (life and image of Christ) “according to the Scriptures.”

Romans 16:25–27 (NKJV)

25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 15:3–5 (NKJV)

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

James 2:7–9 (NKJV)

7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

But what is the second purpose and the natural outworking of gaining the understanding of John’s letter? (v.4)

Clearly, John believes that it is joy that is the purpose of understanding the knowledge of the Holy One. And clearly, this joy has been a recurring theme in the verses we have gone over so far, which have described “the Word of Life.” (Heb.12:2; Phil.2:16-18)

Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV)

10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

So after learning to fear, which was given to drive us in order to obtain this wisdom, the purpose is to relieve this fear by gaining the understanding of the Holy One, who is to be OUR JOY. But John is not content with just obtaining an understanding but that this joy would be to the fullest. Therefore if this letter is applied correctly, it is to produce an abundance of joy in those who abide in the doctrine of the Apostles.

Luke 24:49–53 (NKJV)

49 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

Now we come to the promise of eternal life fulfilled in the church by the person and work of Jesus Christ in which the person of the Holy Spirit is revealed. The “Promise of the Father” is the Helper by which the church will be filled with power to succeed in this purpose to make the joy of heaven complete. Therefore “our” joy shouldn’t be complete until it spills over in us with great hospitality. And therefore, we have the threefold witness of God abiding in this love and joy where God is revealed as three persons but one God. Wasn’t the purpose of our salvation to fill the whole earth with God’s glory? And isn’t this glory revealed in us who believe?

Isaiah 6:1–3 (NKJV)

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Psalm 48:title–2 (NKJV)

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain. 2 Beautiful in elevation, The joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, The city of the great King.

Psalm 72:17–20 (NKJV)

17 His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed. 18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! 19 And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

So we see from the “heavenly perspective” that the whole earth will be filled with the glory of God, but from our fallen perspective, there is much work to be done and space to fill. But when all the elect have been saved, the whole earth will be full of his glory.

Romans 11:25–28 (NKJV)

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” 28 Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

Therefore what is the introduction of John’s letter preparing us for later in the remainder of the epistle? (v.1-4)

Consider that it is the outworking of “divine love” that is the preparation of this epistle. The practical implication of this (love and joy) that is born in us from above in the understanding of the Holy One, Jesus Christ, is that we bring others into this divine fellowship. Therefore listen to what Henry Scougal has to say about the practical implications of this “religion in the soul” according to his book called “The Life of God in the Soul of Man.” He writes concerning the excellency of charity as the branch of this divine love abiding in the soul is universal in its charity. In other words, if divine love is the root that goes deep into the soul to fill it with the joy and pleasures of God’s glory, then this universal charity is the stem that rises out of the soil of that soul that then branches out to spill over with the fruit of this divine love in which the body of Christ grows like a shade tree.

“For what can be more noble and generous than a heart enlarged to embrace the whole world, a heart whose wishes and designs are that every person’s interests are his own?” says Scougal. Concerning (this love), Scougal writes, “The heroic actions of which we often read with admiration have for the most part been the consequences of love for one’s country or particular friendships, but a far more comprehensive and universal affection is much more powerful and efficacious to achieve the higher things.”

Did you catch that? Divine love is not laying down one’s life for the common things such as your nation or your everyday friends but in giving your life for the elect of God’s glory.

2 Timothy 2:8–10 (NKJV)

8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Therefore next to love and enjoyment of God, as Scougal writes, the charity and affection that spreads out from divine love in the blessed to embrace one another are to be understood as the greatest happiness as in heaven itself.

Matthew 6:9–10 (NKJV)

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

Therefore he goes on to argue that there is no liberty so base as that whereby it leads men to become slaves to their own lusts and where that liberty is exalted above the victory that is so glorious as that which leads to obtaining victory over the desires of the sinful flesh. Scougal says, “The religious person aims higher than the pleasures of sin. His mind is liberated so that he can pursue more sublime and refined delights and so that he cannot concern himself with something lower. Souls overpowered by divine love despise inferior pleasures, . . . judging such things to be irrelevant to their chief happiness and the higher enjoyments.”

James 2:12–13 (NKJV)

12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

1 Peter 2:15–17 (NKJV)

15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

2 Peter 2:1–3 (NKJV)

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

2 Peter 2:18–19 (NKJV)

18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

What is the conclusion then but to pursue this greatest joy by planting ourselves in the soil where the roots of this divine love go deep and where we are shaded by the stem and its branches that are for charity to feed the world that is without Christ and alienated from (the life of God)?

Matthew 13:31–32 (NKJV)

31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”